PREFACE 



Over-specialization has been regarded as an evil, if a necessary one, not only in the 

 domain of science, but also in the more commonplace pursuits of everyday life. Never- 

 theless, whilst it is given to the few to survey the problems of existence with that broad 

 and responsive comprehension which has characterized the work of some of our greatest 

 intellects, those of a lesser versatility may derive some comfort from the hope that their 

 efforts to study one small point of interest may at least help to furnish a pebble towards 

 the great fabric of truth which is arising out of the conceptions of the master architects 

 of science. At the present time, when evolution is as much the basis of biological investiga- 

 tion as is the law of gravity of astronomical research, the study of mimicry has assumed 

 a position of no little importance. Whilst the phenomenon may be regarded as merely 

 a special expression of the value of colours and markings, it yet contains within itself many 

 diverse forms, the common feature of which is their bearing on the struggle for existence, 

 and the support they afford for the principles of organic evolution. The present work 

 suffers from the already mentioned drawback of speciahzation, in that it deals only with 

 a form of mimetic resemblance which obtains between butterflies of different genera, and 

 that only with those of the Ethiopian region. Nevertheless, it is hoped that the information 

 compiled from many sources will serve on the one hand to evoke a more general interest 

 in a subject which has hitherto been in the hands of comparatively few workers, and on 

 the other to stimulate further investigation which may lead to the elucidation of the many 

 difficulties which still remain unsolved. Those who are familiar with the classification of 

 butterflies may be inclined to find fault with the amount of space which has been devoted 

 to purely elementary systematics ; but I would remind those to whom such matters are 

 familiar ground, that there are many potential naturalists who are at first attracted merely 

 by the beauty of the objects they are moved to collect, and it is in the desire to provide 

 for these and for the collector abroad all the information necessary to useful investigation 

 that I have endeavoured to make the work complete in this respect. When years ago 

 I became interested in mimetic phenomena, I found that any extensive knowledge of the 

 subject was only to be obtained from a large and costly accumulation of the publications of 

 various scientific societies, whilst familiarity with the appearance of some mimetic forms 

 was, owing to their extreme rarity, a matter of considerable difficulty for the private collector, 

 I have, therefore, endeavoured to compile into one volume the information contained in 

 many publications together with drawings of specimens from several collections, and it is 

 hoped that others may find in the result materials of some interest and a basis for further 

 research. 



In the matter of nomenclature I have followed as nearly as possible that of Professor 

 Aurivillius in his ' Rhopalocera Aethiopica ', in the belief that the advantage of coincidence 

 of arrangement with the only complete work on African Butterflies will outweigh whatever 

 slight inconvenience may arise from lack of agreement in a few cases with more recent 

 synonymy. I have not attempted to give all existing references to each species, but have 

 endeavoured as far as possible to give the most important, including those of the first 



